I had never heard of Washington University before my sister went here seven years before me. When I told everyone in my high school that I was going here, I was met with a familiar confusion surrounding where I would physically be located. Even today, when I visit my hometown in rural Illinois, some people do not know where I go to school (though a much larger percentage than before now does). The difference between all those instances of time is that now I have the confidence not to care about whether people know how prestigious my undergraduate education was, because I know it was well worth it, and I would not have given it up for anything.
Now I am one of those types of people who have great pride in the groups that they are a part of and strong loyalty to the people with whom I am friends. Thus, it is natural that at the time of my graduation I would have only good things to say about Wash. U. And it is true. I honestly do not think that I have any complaints about my experience here, except for the fact that it always rains on W.I.L.D. and that the lines at Bear’s Den are a tad too long.
If you think about Wash. U. Brand College, it is a very novel concept: take a large number of young adults from every walk of life, force them to live together in both shoddy and brand-new dormitories, require them to learn together as part of a complicated clusters system, incorporate a number of scholarly professors and witty administrators and allow them all to prepare each other for whatever course that life will take them.
The key to this image of Wash. U. is the last phrase. We are all here in our current course of personal development because of those who have been around us for the last four years, whether it was a best friend, a colleague in a student group or sports team, a professor with whom you performed research, an administrator with whom you debated or a partner in a project for a class. Not all of those relationships were pleasant ones, nor were all of them horrific. The important thing to remember is that we had those relationships, and they are now part of what we are and how we think. The abundance of the relationships that I have had here is one of the two most valuable aspects of my college experience. The other is the incredible autonomy with which Wash. U. entrusts its students.
Here at Wash. U., we can form student groups and command control over thousands of dollars of school money. We can produce a show in Edison Theatre entirely by ourselves. We can decide to go throughout all of college and only have to see an advisor when we deem it necessary. We can arrange meetings with administrators whenever we need. Lastly, we can throw parties wherever we want so long as we filled out a space request form first. It is this respect and independence that we are given that leads us to do great things while we are on campus, and it is that feeling of complete control that enables us to have the confidence that will make us successful in the future.
As I think back about all the things that I have done over the last four years, it is daunting to believe so much has happened in such a short time period. The fact that we go around bragging about how many papers, tests, or student group meetings that we have in a given week is proof enough that we are a culture of busy people doing busy things.
I will never forget how long my first 10-page paper in E-Comp took me, and how nervous I was when I turned it in. The interesting part of this story is that that exact feeling came back to me when I was working on my senior honors thesis, though the latter experience was no worse than the former, and both were incredibly worthwhile (after the fact, of course). It just goes to show that over the past four years, we have moved together as a class to bigger and better things, and I do not think the pace of life will be getting any slower in the near future.
At the beginning of freshmen year, we were merely pawns in our student groups, Greek organizations, and intro-level classes. Now we leave as leaders and intellectuals who have been fully branded with the Wash. U. mentality of involvement and service. My experience at Wash. U. can be summarized with one word: confidence. At Wash. U. I have gained the confidence to speak out about issues that I care about, to reach a goal even though others think it could not be achieved, and to follow the life I always wanted. Confidence is an amazing attribute, as it allows you to reach your full potential, and that is what education is all about. Soon many of us will be in graduate school, traveling the world, or working at top firms and corporations. Because of the Wash. U. brand of confidence, we know the only direction we can go is up,
The next time I come across someone who has not heard of Wash. U., I will simply show them this column and ask them to read it. After they are done, they will ask me where it is located, and then they will never forget that we are Washington University in St. Louis.
To the graduates of the Class of 2006: thank you for being the wonderful people that you are and for making me the person that I am today. I am grateful to each and every one of you. Good luck with all the great things you will accomplish.